Loon's Collection: PNSO Suchomimus (Jan 16, 2023)

[Loon]

@ceratopsian No need to qualify your comment, I actually found it incredibly useful. While seeing something in person is very different from looking at a photo online, you don't have the same biases and "eccentricities" I have when creating a display, so the other perspective is appreciated. I've been fiddling with that shelf, but limited time and the fact that organizing floor-level shelves is always a nightmare have kept me from finishing it.

@Shonisaurus Thank you. The tsintaosaurus is stunning, but I say that with the caveat that I got it for half price thanks to some store credit. If I had payed full price, I might be singing a different song.

@Paleona Thank you. That figure is actually a Sinosauropteryx by PNSO, from their unfortunately cancelled line of minis. I would have loved a Dinotopia toyline. James Gurney does have some prototypes (made by Hasbro?) on his Gurney Journey blog, and they look really neat.

@Gothmog the Baryonyx As always, thank you. That Yi qi tail is seriously one of the biggest pain the asses in my collection. I could breathe funny and that thing would fall off. So, I can see how you lost yours.

[Loon]

For the past fee years, I've tried to practice restraint when it comes to getting new releases right when they come out. It never happens. I guess that's just FOMO.

No joke, as soon as I got the notification that MiniZoo had the first wave in stock, I bought them. So, here they are:

I actually got these last week, but strangely haven't felt too rushed to talk about them. I finally got to evaluate them more, and here are my thoughts.

Cooperoceras
I like this one, even though I don't have much interest in these large scale marine figures from the past few years. They're just no something I collect; but, I do make a point to at least check them out. I think, like a lot of those other figures, CollectA really excels with the paint. I love the pearlescent finish.


Pteranodon sternbergii
As someone who thinks Geosternbergia is a cooler name, I don't completely understand the name choice. But, I know/care little about taxonomic debates, so whatever. Regardless, this is a stunning pterosaur. I've always been a fan of Geosternbergia; that crest and curved beak are just so impressive. I think they really nailed it on the head with this one. Usually, I'm a little put off by CollectA's color schemes, but here, I love it. I remember getting some early reader book about pterosaurs from my mom when I was little and it featured some brightly colored pterosaurs. I loved the art, and really enjoy CollectA's pterosaur figures because they remind me so much of it.


With Safari's Pteranodon

Smok
I wasn't too sure about this one at first. I didn't really know Smok, and the fragmentary nature of the remains combined with the uncertainty of it's phylogeny didn't help. But, I'm an absolute glutton for the Triassic. It's just the Mesozoic's first years of college where it blasts through 3 different majors before it decided to be boring and give up. Jokes aside, I grew to love the look of this figure and when it got here... Wow. It's big. I'm happy that between this and its contemporary Lisowicia, CollectA has been showing that the Triassic had some decently large animals. Cymbospondylus when?



Torn between two worlds.

Edmontosaurus
Speaking of big, yeesh. This one's massive. It definitely pushes the limits of Edmontosaurus sizes of you want it to be 1:35ish, but it I can't say that bothers me too much. I love this figure. As much as I like Safari's, something about the head was just off; almost a little droopy? Maybe I'm nuts (it's highly possible), but I just find the sculpt is more recognizable here. Of course, the elephant in the room is the bizarre color scheme. I think dinosaur companies need to learn that throwing green and brown on a figure doesn't look good. *cough*PNSO*cough"


With Safari's Edmontosaurus.

Just to show how big this figure is, here's the PNSO Shantungosaurus. Interestingly, this figure also suffered from a bland color scheme initially, I think the Edmontosaurus may have asked where they got their makeover.

Spinosaurus
To think that I have gone so long without a Spinosaurus. I think I've had at least one of every company's post-2014 takes. But, CollectA has that history with this species that makes this something special. Those 2015 figures are still very exciting to someone who got into paleontology again at that time. They represent a fun and exciting period of dinosaur science that I feel gets forgotten or pushed to the side in all the online debates. The big feature hear is that tail, and I have to say I love it. It's so weird feeling, but I like it. I'm not so in love with the spikes. I may be wrong, but they don't seem to mesh well with the aquatic look CollectA's going for. I guess you could say they're analogous to the spikes on a crocodile, but those seem more "aquadynamic."  I don't know. Still, tiny nitpicks aside, there's a real motion and presence to this figure that I can't deny. Plus, any species from Cretaceous Africa is welcome in my eyes.


With PNSO's Carcharodontosaurus.

Attack from below.

[TooOldForDinosaurs]

Wow! Awesome photos and great figures. Not only the Edmontosaurus wonders where your Shantungosaurus got it's makeover  it looks staggering. First I was sure that I was going to get the Spinosaurus and coulnd't make up my mind about the Edmontosaurus. Slowly but surely those opinions are switching places... 

[Carnoking]

Just got a sizable CollectA haul myself, including that big ol' Edmontosaurus. I'm now sorely tempted to pick up the Smok along with the Lisowicia 

[Loon]

If you've been following this thread for the past few years (and I mean, who hasn't?), you'd know that I went pretty hard on the Mattel Jurassic World line when it first came out. For a time, I had literally everything with a scan tag, and then year 2 hit. It was too much to keep going, and I decided to limit my collection to Legacy Collection, where my interest really lay.

If you've been following this thread for the past few years (and I mean, who hasn't?), you'd know that I have no self-control. Despite not thinking Dominion is going to be a very good movie, the marketing push has me kinda excited. Regardless of my thoughts on the media, Mattel's toys are still pretty great. They've decided to release a bunch of new shiny toys all at once and I, being a rube, bought a lot of them.


Yangchuanosaurus

I don't know why I was so excited about this figure. The Mattel original designs tend to be hit-or-miss, and this one is more of a miss. Still, as with all of these, it's a very fun toy. I like a gimmick sometimes and the Mattel line does excel at fun gimmicks. But, this thing's just goofy, especially the face. I kinda like the weird, frilly spines along the back, but the rest of the sculpt is strange. The paint is also reminiscent of those Lanard Dinosaur toys from a few years ago, which sticks out compared to the other figures. Whatever, I wanted to check it out and I did. If anything, it'll be another toy the kids at my work get to play with.



Quetzalcoatlus

I'm a sucker for Quetzalcoatlus, no matter how much the pedants yell at me. The big dumb pterosaur has been a favorite for some time and when I saw a relatively decent looking one was getting an action figure, I had to snap it up. Despite being very similar to the first Quetzalcoatlus Mattel released, the improvements bring a new life to this figure.

The head is also pretty cool and shows some genuine understanding of this animal's anatomy, which is a major step up from the last two movies.



Therizinosaurus
Oh, how I wanted to hate this...

Between the Pyroraptor and this guy, I'm way too excited to see inaccurate feathered dinosaurs acting ridiculously. I don't know, I'm just excited to see a huge Therizinosaurus, and this toy manages to capture that.

Despite being a big gimmick toy, this figure got quite a bit of articulation. The slashing gimmick is pretty fun too.

I think the most contentious part of this figure is going to be the head. Obviously, it's not a very good Therizinosaur head, but it doesn't even look that close to the one in the movie (at least from what I've seen). Still, I kinda like it. The jaw gives it this grin that makes me think this Therizinosaurus is a total edge-lord who really likes Gigan's design from Godzilla: Final Wars.


Claire and Dilophosaurus

While the dinosaurs are neat, Jurassic lines are unique because of the humans and vehicles they can interact with. I feel like the Mattel line lost sight of that for a little bit, so I'm happy Mattel finally figured out how to make human figures work in the mainline. 

Claire is a neat-looking figure of the only bearable JW main character. Though, she's a little generic, since that likeness isn't screaming Bryce Dallas Howard.


Not to discount Claire, but I did pick this set up for the Dilophosaurus. At first, I wasn't sure about this figure. The paint looked really nice, but god, I was so tired of this same 4-year-old mold...

How wrong I was.

So, this is not the same figure. I guess it draws from the same CAD model or whatever, but it's actually a little larger. And wow, once I saw how the paint compared to the legacy version, I knew this would be the one I put up on the shelf from now on.



Kitchen Encounter Set
"Timmy, what is it?"
"It's a Velociraptor"



As much as I love the Legacy Collection, I think I'm a little done with all these multi-packs. They all come with a few too many things I already have/don't need. This one is no different, but Mattel is still pretty decent with their prices, so I can't complain too much.

Tim is basically the same as the last (very recent) release, just with some dirt on him. I still like this figure, especially the face sculpt, which is so good for a figure this small.


This is just another Velociraptor. It uses parts from other Velociraptors and is kinda strange looking. I think the legs are just too stretched and the neck is just too short. Still, I think this is the first time this combination of parts has been released.


I haven't pointed this out, but oh, how I hate the new scan gimmick. I don't know what was wrong with putting these on the feet? They were out of sight for the most part, but now they just create a nasty gap on the figure's back.

Looking back, it's interesting to see the evolution of Mattel's take on the first movie raptors. Like the Tyrannosaurus, they seemed to struggle with the exact shades of brown and exactly what patterns cover the body. I think this might be due to the differing look of the CG models and the suits. In that sense, I can appreciate the retail Legacy figures for somewhat capturing the muddy-looking textures of those ancient computer models. However, I think I'm happy to finally replace them (more on that in a bit).


Now, this is the reason to get this set. I'm so happy there's finally a Lex figure to hang out with the rest of the cast. She doesn't have the best face likeness, so she suffers from a bit of that same genericness that Claire did. Still, it's just neat to have the main cast completed.

Because of this figure's limited arm movement, you can't get a ton of poses. Still, she can decently beat up a raptor with a pan.

I was also able to recreate the shot where Lex runs screaming towards the kitchen freezer door.


Enter the HAMMOND COLLECTION

Ian Malcolm

The Hammond Collection is all about the increased articulation; in the case of the line's first human figure, I think the added movement is really great. There's a wrist joint, a ball-jointed torso, double-jointed knees, and ankle joints.

You can see how much more flexible this figure is. However, I think in the case of the knees, I would prefer the old figure's knee-bend and swivel approach. Double-joints are nice, but for characters from a movie like Jurassic Park, who are just normal people and not superheroes, a swivel accomplishes so much more. Articulation isn't the only area where this figure makes strides, the head sculpt is so much nicer. Looking back at that old Malcolm, I see what they were going for with the face detail, but the attempt to paint on the hair around the lips just looked odd. The head sculpt itself is much more Goldblummian as well.


Parasaurolophus

The unsung star of the Jurassic franchise finally gets a movie-accurate figure from Mattel! While I thought the older figure was neat for being a quadruped, the JP Parasaurolophus has such a classic look and it needed an update. While I personally find the Kenner figure has the better sculpt, this figure is not a slouch by any means. It's big, for one thing, and despite that, it's still nicely stable in somewhat dynamic poses.

If there was one thing I could point out as a negative, it would be the head. From the side, it looks reasonably similar, but from the front view... I don't know. The first thought that comes to mind is a swollen tomato, and no, I don't know why. It's just too round and wide; this seems to be the fault of the articulation joint, but I'm sure that could have been worked around more elegantly.

I can forgive that, though. This figure's a bunch of fun and overall a good representation of the animal in the movies.

This shot is inspired by the Dominion trailer confirming that Parasaurolophus is the original horse girl.



Baryonyx

While I think the species introduced in Fallen Kingdom didn't get portrayed as interestingly as they deserve to be in that movie, subsequent media has made me appreciate these designs a bit more. The Baryonyx is definitely the nicest of the new dinosaurs in that movie, and I think it's already gotten quite a few nice toys. This figure reminds me of how much I liked that design. I love the blue along the back and, while not as prevalent as it is on the older Roarivore, I like the metallic blue on the face.

I'm so pleased to mess with a poseable theropod that can stand, though, my Baryonyx has particularly loose joints in spots. I'll try to return it for another copy at some point, but I'm just having fun with it for now.



Velociraptor

Thisn has to be the first time that I feel Mattel has gotten the '93 raptors right and, oh god, I love it. It's not perfect, and it still uses the JW Blue-style head, but these, as toys and as representations of Jurassic Park raptors are just so good.

The movement, while limited in spots, is so fun to mess around with at such a small size. I've wanted poseable Jurassic toys forever, and while Mattel ahs done a good job up till now, this is next level stuff.

"You bought raptors?"

Yes, I liked this toy so much that I bought 3. I have literally never done something like this before, but I do many things for Jurassic Park that I don't normally do. And so, here are a bunch of stupid pictures I took messing with this toy.






Compared to the Legacy raptor from the Kitchen Encounter, there is such a difference in feel and look. That's not to say that this is objectively a better toy, it costs almost twice as much as the Attack Pack price point this Raptor would inhabit if released on its own, so I would hope it felt more premium. Regardless of those qualifiers, this stuff has me very excited for the future of this line.

[Faelrin]

Congrats on the huge haul here. This was a fun read, and lots of nice and fun pictures you've gotten of these. Helps scratch that itch while I wait to get my hands on some of these myself (such as the Hammond Collection stuff, Quetzalcoatlus, Therizinosaurus, etc), beyond the few I do have now (like the Extreme Damage Dimetrodon). Edit: I have now acquired the Hammond Collection Parasaurolophus and Baryonyx.

By the way have you seen the new Hammond Collection Tyrannosaurus yet? Thoughts on it?

[Loon]

Congrats on the huge haul here. This was a fun read, and lots of nice and fun pictures you've gotten of these. Helps scratch that itch while I wait to get my hands on some of these myself (such as the Hammond Collection stuff, Quetzalcoatlus, Therizinosaurus, etc), beyond the few I do have now (like the Extreme Damage Dimetrodon). Edit: I have now acquired the Hammond Collection Parasaurolophus and Baryonyx.

By the way have you seen the new Hammond Collection Tyrannosaurus yet? Thoughts on it?

Thank you. And congrats on getting the Dimetrodon as well as those Hammond figures; and hopefully they weren't to much of a hassle to get. I spent hours searching Targets for those.

I first saw the Tyrannosaurus when I woke up this morning, and even with the sleep in my eyes making my vision a bit foggy, I got super excited seeing it on my phone. I think it looks really exciting; the paint especially looks so neat. Even more so than the articulation upgrade, that has me anticipating this figure. I hope that carries though to the released version. Funnily enough, I was actually in LA last night seeing a show when that Jurassic even was going on. I'd forgotten about it until this morning, and was a little sad that I had missed it, but I'm fine just seeing the photos.

[Shonisaurus]

My congratulations for all your new acquisitions, Mattel's are interesting, Mattel's therizinosaurus reminds me a lot of Schleich's I don't know why

The velociraptor and baryonyx are very successful. On the other hand, all your new Collecta figures have me excited. Thanks for sharing.

[Loon]

@Shonisaurus Thanks for the comment. I think the figure itself does have some similarities. I wouldn't be shocked if the designers for the movie were inspired by the Schleich figure, since it's a very popular image of the animal.

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

Congrats on your lovely CollectA haul, looking forward to ED getting those in myself, the Cooperoceras looks bigger than I was expecting but that will look all the better on an otherwise vertebrate heavy Permian shelf I suppose.

Congrats also on your Jurassic Park acquisitions, nostalgia is such a nice thing. I never saw the original until after the first sequel though myself. JP came out year i was born, I have much more nostalgia for the Lost World. In fact, if only the adult Stegosaurus in the set with Sarah Harding had been the lovely 90s TLW design rather than the 1970s JW design, I would have taken a plunge in JP collecting now and bought that Sarah & Stegosaurus set.
I'm glad they've finally released a Lex though.

[Loon]

@Gothmog the Baryonyx Thanks. I feel you about the Stegosaurus. I still got the set because I like baby and Harding is one of the few characters from the sequel I actually really like. But, yeah, I love the TLW stegosaurus design so much, so I'm not crazy they felt slapping some different paint on that same Fallen Kingdom figure would work. Hopefully, the Stegosaurus follows the path of the triceratops and gets a decent updated figure in the Hammond Collection.

I was satisfied to take a break from figure collecting for a bit, but several companies decided to release their new figures around the same time and I, a weak-willed glutton, had to check them out.

Eofauna Konobelodon

As far as I can tell, konobelodon isn't known from great material, so I can't speak to this model's accuracy. I think Eofauna know what they're doing in that department, though, so I'm sure it does a good job of recreating this animal or at least closely related species. I especially love the crazy tusks, which are such a welcome bit of weirdness to my collection.

It's also really nice to see the Neogene get some love. When I put it next to its somewhat close relative, CollectA's Gomphotherium, I liked that they had such differing styles. While I'm not crazy about the red fur on the Gomphothere, I think it goes well alongside the Konobelodon's smooth hide.

I have to give Eofauna credit for making all of these figures so distinct. Obviously, they're different species, and things like body shape and their heads are different. Still, beyond that, I love that they're all different colors. I honestly enjoy the Konobelodon's pain the most, but they all bring something different to the table.

Eofauna Diplodocus

God, is this thing long. Sauropods have a habit of being a pain to display. They're either too long or too tall, and this one is no exception. Such a slight indiscretion has often led to figures being chucked by my fickle hands into the sales pile, but the difference here is that this figure is actually really good.

Eofauna make a good figure? Shocking, I know. They've definitely stood out as the most consistent of the more expensive companies, and while their choices don't always excite me, I can at least count on them to do a great job.

I was also stoked about the novelty of this figure being modeled after an accurate reconstruction of the musculature and skeleton. I don't think that's been done before, really. It does look like there is something going on under the skin and that different parts are moving as the animal does.

More expensive figures often have a bad habit looking bland with muddled colors (we'll talk about that more in a bit, trust me). Luckily, this Diplodocus escapes that. The colors are toned down, but striking; they honestly remind me an awful lot of the proposed color scheme for the unreleased Terra version of the Battat Styracosaurus.

I wasn't thrilled to get this figure because I already had my Safari version and thought it worked perfectly well.

I actually quite enjoy the blue paint job and thought the musculature and heft, especially around the neck, were more convincing. I can appreciate both, however, as they come off as equally realistic reconstructions in my opinion.

PNSO Acrocanthosaurus
I've made it no secret that I don't get the hype behind the giant Allosauroids. I think they're neat, for the most part, but Carcharodontosaurus and Giganotosaurus don't truly excite me like some other species. That being said, I stan hard for Acrocanthosaurus. So, when I saw PNSO had announced one, I hoped it would be as good as their Carcharodontosaurus.

That's pretty much the case here. I think, overall, there's a lot of nice things with this figure, but those are by virtue of it being Acrocanthosaurus. That's not to say that PNSO didn't do a good job, as always the body of the animal is very nice and has a good hefty look. Something about the way PNSO rendered the chest muscles and forearms always looks so cool. And that hump. Finally, someone did it right. I love acrocanthosaurus for the intimidating presence the hump gives it; it looks like a very intimidating henchman.

I love the shape of the skull. Acrocanthosaurus has such a cool head shape, and I think they did a good job with it. My love for PNSO theropods doesn't usually extend to the head, but that's not the case here. I even like the scales above the teeth. I'm a fan of lips on theropods, but I can admit that the crocodile-lile integument is done well, much better than most other attempts and even later attempts by the same company *cough*sinraptor*cough*. While I'm talking about the mouth, I want to mention that the lower jaw on mine doesn't close at what you would think is the natural stopping point, but goes up into the upper jaw making for a bit of a overbite. It's nothing terrible, but odd, for sure.

To me, the only place this figure falls short is the paint, which is overwhelmingly...ok. There's obviously some intent here, but the final  product is so watered-down that I find it hard to point out anything I like. It's not terrible, obviously, but there's nothing too interesting. I like the hints of brown, and honestly, wish they were the primary color over this green and brown mush. I really hope this is something PNSO start working on, since I often worry buying more of these figures is gonna leave my shelves full of figures the color of vomit.

Compared to my Papo Acrocanthosaurus, who, ironically, is almost the exact opposite of this figure in every way. The PNSO is way more accurate but has a weaker paint scheme, while the Papo is more fantastical with odd proportions but has a great paint job. I love the colors and the patterns on the Papo so much; heck, it even has nicer jaw articulation.

Still, PNSO's Acrocanthosaurus does what I want every figure in my collection to do: remind me what I like about an animal. Between the skull and the hump and that imposing stance, it gives off all the right vibes.

Safari LTD. Patagotitan
And finally, the most exciting new Safari LTD. figure of the year (until they revealed Zuul), the Patagotitan!!!

Patagotitan is one of those big names that became really big when I first started getting back into this stuff. While the reason for its fame may have been somewhat exaggerated, that doesn't make it any less interesting to me. I gulped up all the images, videos, and even that David Attenborough documentary about it back in the day because I just that it was neat. Also, even though Patagotitan probably wasn't as big as Argentinosaurus, it just has a better name.

When Safari revealed this figure, I was stoked. Titanosaurs don't get nearly as much love in figure form as diplodocus or brachiosaurids, so it's always cool to get one. I was a bit wary of it having basically the exact colors of Safari's Baryonyx (aka The PNSO Effect), but it just looked so well-done.

As always, Doug Watson does a great job of creating a figure that looks alive without relying on cheap tricks. There's a real sense of this being such a big creature that it looks like it's being actively forced down by gravity and only barely holding its own.

I'm also a big fan of the pose, which isn't something I say often. Poses are usually take it or leave it for me, but this figure seems to be directly homaging the bizarre way the skeleton was displayed at the American Museum of Natural History for a time. That is such an iconic image to me, I can't help but love this figure for that.

Again, two very different styles on display here. There are a lot of things I can appreciate about both figures when put side by side. If anything, I think the Safari figure could take note from Eofauna about the feet, especially the back toes. I don't think the Safari having the back outer toes exposed bothers me a ton, but it is the only real gripe I have with it. Also, both these figures have thoroughly beat the notion that sauropod figures need to be any bigger out of me. They're huge! I can barely fit them on the shelf; makes me sympathize with those museum workers who actually have to store the real things.

With the only other Titanosaur I own, Malawisaurus. I love the diversity these two show, even within such a relatively small group of animals.

[Stegotyranno420]

I love those pictures of the acrocanthosaurus you posted. They look much more natural than others I seen.

[Loon]

I love those pictures of the acrocanthosaurus you posted. They look much more natural than others I seen.

Thanks. It's definitely the nicest one I've seen yet, though, there aren't many Acrocanthosaurus figures. I'm excited to see what the GR Toys one looks like, but those recent reveals leave me skeptical.

[Loon]

Sometimes, a figure just won't do what you want it to, even if that task is something as simple as standing up. That was the case here, with the Favorite Tarbosaurus. I love this model and think it's honestly one of the better tyrannosaurs on the market, but the struggles I've had getting it to stay upright. Boy, do I miss the days when the worst thing to happen involved a figure falling over.

Anyway... I live in Southern California and the summer heat can sometimes do quite the number on my figures, particularly theropods (I'm looking at you, Papo Malibu Stork), and warp their legs to the point of them no longer being able to stand. My Australovenator was hit so badly that I could no longer get it to stand even when I tried to warp the legs back, so I commissioned a base from @paintingdinos.

At one point, I considered this with my Tarbosaurus (I even sent it to her with the Australovenator), but, I decided to cancel that commission and sell it. Then, I started to miss the figure, and my lack of will led me to buy it again. This time, finally, I gave in and realized the only way it would continue to stand would be with some help.

Paintingdinos absolutely knocked my socks of here. There's something transcendental about this base, it feels alive in a way that makes you forget it exists to prop up a figure l. Looking at the floor, you can tell this is a place that has been shaped by animals. The Tarbosaurus footprints are just so inspiring, they've clearly filled up with some water and I can imagine smaller animals drinking out of them. BTW, the muddy look is inspired by paintingdinos' research into the Nemegt Formation, which yielded information about there being some floodplains.

The tree (would you call such a thing a stump?) is definitely a contender for the best part of the base. No joke, I, for a brief moment fooled myself into think that it was in fact real wood. It's not, it's made of foam, but that says something. I also love the little notch that the Tarbosaurus' hand can fit into for extra support.

Bases usually register such little emotion from me. They're either flat bits of  blandly sculpted unpainted plastic that, no matter what habitat the animal occupied, look like sand, or overblown nightmares that take up more room than the figure itself. This base is the perfect refutation of both those ideas. It's not huge, but it packs such a punch, and it actually helps the figure stand. I'm so grateful To paintingdinos for making this and helping one of my favorites (pun intended) be able to live on my shelves once again.

So, that's it for now. There's 3 more customs to share and I'll probably post the next one in a couple of days. Thanks for reading!

[paintingdinos]

Yay, so happy to see it posted. This base is one of my favorite things I've ever made. Figuring out how to make the tree look natural was a creative breakthrough for me, originally I was going to try and make a resin cast out of an actual branch. Fortunately that didn't pan out, now I've learned a new skill to help on future projects.

I also just like the idea of a story behind it. Things have dried up enough to give this Tarbosaurus a chance to hunt around for an easy snack that may have washed in with the flood waters.

[Loon]

When I was a kid, I stayed at my grandparents' house a lot. My brother and I would stay in a small guest room where was a small TV and a DVD VCR. The TV didn't have cable and we were used to falling to sleep with the TV on, so we would watch the few DVDs they had over and over again. Two movies I remember watching all the time were the Jim Carrey Grinch and Jurassic Park 3.

The result of a mostly fruitless Google search for the a picture of both the Grinch and Jurassic Park. Figures made by Jaime Follis
Source: Laughing Squid

I was a particularly Dinosaur obsessed kid (things haven't changed much), but strangely, I wasn't too familiar with the other Jurassic Park movies. I knew about them and saw clips of them in dinosaur shows on Animal Planet, but for a long time this was the only movie in the franchise I had any real contact with. That's fine, because I loved it. I remember obsessing over the movie. This was also a time when I could just go through the special features on a DVD for hours. I remember my dad having a portable DVD player in his car (the height of cool for a kid in the early 2000s) and watching these turnarounds of the 3D dinosaur models over and over and over... I watched this movie so much that I can probably quote it more than any other film in the series. It's just so ingrained into my memory that I can't help but enjoy it. I still watch it every time it's on TV. The JP3 toys were also some of my favorites as a kid. I had the electronic Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptor. Despite their, in hindsight, awkward poses, I remember playing with them like crazy. I also had this cool raptor that could walk around. I found them all in my garage a few years back and should really dig them up again.

This is the T.rex toy I have from when I was a kid. Source: Jurassic Toys

Jurassic Park 3 marked one of the first times I remember being really scared as a kid, aside from a potentially fake memory of my dad saving me from a murderer on Halloween. For years, I would be afraid to open my backyard door at night because I thought there were Velociraptors outside and if I want quick enough they'd get me. Oh, and that scene with the Pteranodon on the bridge! That scared me almost much as Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin (which was the height of terror for kid me). The Spinosaurus was just as scary, but also a figure to be emulated. When I was "it" in games of tag at school, I would act like the Spinosaurus in the reunion scene by the fence. I would walk away, pretending I wasn't interested in chasing my friends, then turn around and start running after them. Knowing myself at that age, I most likely roared like a dinosaur.

Given that history, it should be no shock that I chose to have the CollectA Spinosaurus repainted in honor of my love for this movie.



@paintingdinos has honestly done an astonishing job here. Even though this model represents a modern, less generic-theropod look for Spinosaurus, the way she's captured the colors makes it clear what this is supposed to be. Most notably, the main color of the Spinosaurus' skin. I think modern media and toys have simplified this too much to a basic grey, but I always thought of the animal as having a more complex skin color with grey, but also reddish-brown.
Something about it always reminded me of leaves in the fall, but covered in blood for some reason (might want to talk to someone about that). Anyway, she captured those complex colors so well here.

With Mattel's Legacy Collection Spinosaurus. This figure is connected to another fond memory, as I bought an extra when it came out and sold it to local collector, Nick, who became a close friend (we actually just saw Dominion together)

Another cool feature of her repaint is the incorporation of more crocodile-like patterns. The big cubic scales along the figures belly and tail are ripe for pebbled look of crocodile scales, but CollectA didn't hone in on this. I'm in love with how these turned out, especially on the underside; it elevates this to another level.



Paintingdinos also did a great job bringing that sail to life. The sail's coloration is another one of those things that's a little hard to notice in the movie, but there is a surprising vibrancy. Honestly, the dinosaurs in JP3 might have the best colors in the whole franchise. The blue puts me in mind of an early idea I thought about suggesting to her, where the animal would have sunlight patterns covering its body to really give off the idea that this animal was underwater.



"Bonitas"
"Something must've spooked them"

The Spinosaurus' head is also beautiful. I've always been a big fan of the red along the neck and snout. It's a subtle way to give this animal a meaner look without resorting to angry eyebrow crests or gnarly scars and exposed teeth. I remember the scene where the Spinosaurus breaks off the front of the plan so vividly; I was just in case when the amazing animatronic stuck it's head up and roared.

While we're talking about the head, the eyes were a real sticking point for me. As a kid and for a long time into adulthood, I had thought the Spinosaurus had solid green eyes with no pupils. It does have pupils, but they're slit like a crocodile, so it's hard to see them. The memory was still too strong to ignore, so I wanted to homage it somehow. I had thought about asking paintingdinos to add these, but I'm not sure about slit pupils on dinosaurs. I think what she came up with is a great compromise between more likely round pupils and the small pupils of the movie creature.

Again, I just cannot thank paintingdinos enough for her work here. I think it's clear this figure with these colors hits me in a way few others have. Please, make sure to check out her thread. I also hope you weren't completely bored by my rambling about some dumb movie from 21 years ago and my fond memories of it.

[ceratopsian]

By contrast I saw the film but have no clear memories of it.  It's fascinating to read how it stayed with you. And it's a very successful repaint.

[Stegotyranno420]

I love the repaint,and I also had that Tyrannosaurus figure.  Thanks for the great memories @Loon, and congrats

[paintingdinos]

Thank you yet again for the kind words Loon. I'm glad you like this one. I know its not a perfect 1:1 match to the film model, but hopefully it pays its respects decently enough! I also agree with you, the designs for the JP3 animals are among my favorite in the franchise. They are vibrant and bold by JP standards and I personally really enjoy them.

[Theriz]

 When I was "it" in games of tag at school, I would act like the Spinosaurus in the reunion scene by the fence. I would walk away, pretending I wasn't interested in chasing my friends, then turn around and start running after them. Knowing myself at that age, I most likely roared like a dinosaur.


[/quote]

I did that too lol